Giacomo Puccini’s final masterpiece in Franco Zeffirelli’s opulent production by the MetOpera
Stream from anywhere on Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Oksana Dyka in the title role of Puccini’s “Turandot.” Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera
Puccini’s Turandot, a grand spectacle of timeless music, rich decorations, dramatic arias, and dazzling performers is a crown-jewel in the Metropolitan Operarepertoire.
The legendary story about the cold and proud Chinese princess claiming her superiority over every contender for her heart is lavishly staged in this historic Franco Zeffirelli‘s production from 1987.
In its Week 18 of the free streaming, the MetOpera features the recording made on November 7, 2009. The cast includes soprano Maria Guleghina in the title role, tenor Marcello Giordani as Prince Calaf, soprano Marina Poplavskaya as Liu, and Samuel Ramey as Timur. Rich orchestration, the inclusion of the uncommon musical instruments in the score, innovative use of the chorus, and ballet are all parts of this grand spectacle of pride, revenge, and love. The free stream is available from 7.30pm for 23 hours.
Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro by Mozart in the modernized setting from the Metropolitan Opera stage
Stream from anywhere on Saturday, July 18, 2020
Susanna Phillips as the Countess, Nadine Sierra as Susanna, and Luca Pisaroni as Figaro in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera
A cornerstone of any opera house’s repertoire, Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro is available to stream on Saturday, July 18, 2020. Sir Richard Eyre’s dynamic production had opened 2014-2015 Met Opera season. The recording from October 18, 2014 features sopranos Marlis Petersen and Amanda Majeski; Isabel Leonard sings the role of the pageboy Cherubino; Ildar Abdrazakov leads as Figaro and Peter Mattei is Count Almaviva. James Levine is conducting.
Premiered at the Met in the 2014-2015 season, the current production transposes the action from the late 18th century Spain to an elegant villa of the 1930s. It fluidly employs the rotating stage for the fast change of the decor and uninterrupted action when moving from scene to scene. The creators and the cast present a highly entertaining and instructive storyline about the virtues of love, decency, loyalty, and the vice of jealousy.
Ingeniously using a sequence of comic scenes with hidings and cross-dressings, Beaumarchais’s play denounces the feudal rules and highlights the wits and smarts of the lower classes. According to Beaumarchais’s contemporaries, the play foreshadowed the French Revolution.
The libretto for the opera was written by Mozart’s favored collaborator Lorenzo Da Ponte. Da Ponte adapted a popular play La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro by Beaumarcheau for his libretto which he completed even before Mozart started writing music for the opera.
At the MetOpera, Le Nozze’s magical music and catchy arias are delivered by the incredible cast with confidence and mastery. The beauty of the duets and the ensemble arias are well-matched by the orchestral work while the comic scenes and the moments of tension are skillfully calibrated and are presented with vitality and affection.
Enjoy the vibrant production of the timeless masterpiece by Mozart and Da Ponte.
The opera’s run time is 3 hours and 30 minutes with one intermission; sung in Italian with the subtitles. The stream starts at 7.30 pm and is available for 23 hours.
Tchaikovsky’s celebrated music combined with the reimagined dark fairy-tale in the powerful performance by Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures company; stream from anywhere
SWAN LAKE by Bourne, 2018, Plymouth, Royal Theatre Plymouth/ Photo Credit: Johan Persson
Director Matthew Bourne’s reimagined centuries-old fairy-tale set to the timeless music by Tchaikovsky dazzles, entertains, and shocks with the audience eagerly responding to each cue extended by the dancers. Created for the New Adventure company in 1995, Bourne’s libretto combines recognizable classical themes with not so subtle references to the public obsession with Windsor royals and the old-society members’ struggle with finding their place in the modern life. From the vantage point of 2020 viewer, the story turns from an entertaining account into a complex psychological drama of mother/son relations, suppressed self-realization, and the burden of traditions.
However, there is an interesting twist to the narrative. The original tale put to music by Tchaikovsky and Swan Lake ballet’s first choreographer J. Reisigner believed to reference the life of Bavarian King Ludwig II. When visiting Schwansee in his childhood, Ludwig II was preoccupied with the swans, was emotionally weak and deemed insane later in life. He was renowned for building bigger than life castles such as Neuschwanstein. It is conceivable that King’s life inspired Prince Siegfried’s character in Swan Lake. Watching Bourne’s interpretation, it is easy to find several parallels to Ludwig’s story in the libretto.
The production is universally known for its replacement of the gentle and tense female swan ensemble with the muscular, forceful, and vindictive flock of all-male dancers. Accentuated by the strong wings and loud hissing sound, their power and domination over feeble and thickly prince is in full swing in Act II and III. Yet, with all their wild freedom, even the swans are unable to accept and accommodate the outsider in their ranks. It’s a grim reminder of the stronghold of prejudice and a drive to preserve the homogeny.
The ballet has everything from puns and jokes to the touching despair and frightening indifference of those around us. For this run, the production was skillfully updated with a rather streamlined soundtrack in place of the live orchestra among other changes. Recognized as the longest-running dance show, the plot still has its potency and bitterness. The cast delivers its lines with the grace and power expected from the renown company.
You can stream the ballet from anywhere. STREAM NOW
The Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan presents a program of Schubert and Rachmaninoff in Lifestream from Caramoor on July 2, 2020 at 7 pm
Inon Barnatan, pianist; Photo: Marco Borggreve
Inon Barnatan, recognized by WQXR as one of its “19 for 19” influential musicians to watch last year, is “one of the most admired pianists of his generation” (New York Times). Known for his thoughtful and inventive programming, impeccable technique, and utmost expressiveness, Barnatan opens Caramoor 2020/2.0 season with a recital in the Music Room which will be live streamed on Thursday, July 2, 2020. Tickets ($10) go on sale 5 days before show.
Program
Schubert Sonata in A Major, D959 RachmaninoffSymphonic Dances (World Premiere of solo piano arrangement by I. Barnatan)
Stream Saint-Saens’s biblical epic with Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna in the title roles from the MetOpera stage on June 24, 2020
Roberto Alagna and Elina Garanca in Saint-Saëns’s “Samson et Dalila.” Photo: Ken Howard / Met Opera
Darko Tresnjak’s production of sensual French Grand Opera by Camille Saint-Saens on the biblical story of Samson et Davila can be streamed from anywhere on June 24, 2020 from 7.30 pm. The stream is available for 23 hours.
The explosive duo of tenor Roberto Alagna, Samson and soprano Elina Garanca, Dalila, and the rest of the powerful cast in this brave production make for an exciting opera night. Tellingly, it opened the 2018-2019 season of MetOpera on a very high note.
Darko Tresnjak, a 2014 Tony Award Winner for best direction of a musical, debuts at the Met Opera with a monumental staging that brings us to ancient Gaza of 12th century BC from the Old Testament’s Book of Judges. Sensual music, an electrifying performance, and vivid stage design promise a memorable experience for every opera fan.
